Water pump



8- 1949- T. H. MUHLY 2,480,417

WATER PUMP Filed Jan. 30, 1945 Jug. 2

INVENTOR TH.MuJ2Zy ATTORNEYS ing dome II in and symmetrical to Patented Aug. 30, 1949 WATER PUMP Theodore H. Muhly, North Fork, Calif., ,assignor, -by decree of distribution, of one-third to Fred Muhly, one-third to Clara Harris, and one-third.

to Margaret Lewis Application January 30, 1945, Serial No. 575,221 4 Claims. (01. 103-103) This invention relates to a water pump of the centrifugal type; my major object being to provide a pump of this general character so constructed as to make effective use of the centrifugal force developed by the impeller as it rotates.

The impeller comprises a circular hollow body having a row of peripheral ports open to the rim of the body, and a suction intake in the bottom of'said body. Since obviously the impeller body. travels faster at its rim than elsewhere, the greatest centrifugal force or power will be developed at the rim thereof to produce the pumping-or water lifting action.

Since the water as drawn into the impelled body from the intake leaves the body at said rim, I thus make full use of this great centrifugal force to lift the water.

I am therefore able to pump a relatively large amount of waterwith a pump unit of given size and power expenditure.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive device and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purpose for which it is designed.

These objects are accomplished by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of my improved pump.

Figure 2 is a sectional plan on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawings, the pump comprises a cylindrical pump housing I disposed with its axis vertical and narrowing down at the top to form or join onto avertical water outlet passage 2. The bottom of the housing is initially open, but is normally covered by a removable smooth-faced bottom plate 3 having a central water intake. opening 4 and a tapped skirt 5 depending about the opening and to which a suction pipe 6 is connected.

The impeller, which is disposed in housing I, comprises a cylindrical body 1 closed on top by a wall Ia which is connected to an axial upstanding drive shaft 8, journaled in a bushing 9 above the body and which is supported from a, plate l0 extending over wall Ia for the full diameter of the body I in closely spaced relation to said wall. Plate Ill is secured to or formed with an upstand- 2 portion of the housing I, to which it is secured by radial webs l2. The plate in prevents any water pressure from bearing down on the top of the impeller and which would consume power 1 includes a bottom plate.l3 resting on and covering substantially the entire otherwise exposed area of housing plate 3. Plate [3 has a central opening M the same size as and matching opening 4.

The circumferential wall or rim of housing I is formed with a horizontal row of evenly spaced water outlet ports I5 thereabout; the combined area of all ports l5 being less than that of intake opening l4. Ports I5 are rectangular and are shorter vertically than the chamber l6 formed within body 1 and are disposed centrally of the height thereof; the internal wall of said chamber diverging from the top and bottom edges of the ports at the junction thereof with the outer periphery of the body as shown at H in Fig. 1.

The ports l5 in a horizontal direction, are

formed by and between relatively thin radial vanes l8 extending the full distance between top wall la and bottom plate I3.

The impeller body is also formed with a' cup I 9 thereabout, which extends substantially to the wall of housing I, and the bottom of which cup has an upward slope from the lower edge of the row of ports l5. This cup deflects the water upwardly with a minimum of resistance while its outer edge, traveling at high speed, forms a seal with the housing which together with the seal formed between plates 3 and I3, prevents any water from leaking down past the impeller.

In operation, by reason of the arrangement above set forth, rotation of the impeller at high speed sets up a tendency to vacuum therein, which causes water from the intake to flow into and fill the impeller. This water is then propelled through ports l5, and placed under pressure by reason of the converging form of the port walls and the relative size of the ports and intake. As soon as the water passes through said ports, it is at once acted on by the great centrifugal force exerted by the rim of the impeller and forced upwardly.

Since the impeller at its rim can thus throw or move more water than can enter the impeller chamber through the intake port, it is necessary to provide a relatively large intake port so as to maintain a steady pressure or flow at the outlet the adjacent ports. The pressure and outlet volume obtained can be varied by altering the relative sizes of the intake and outlet ports, as will be evident. Also, since the cup I 9 is turning with the impeller, a centrifugal motion is imparted to the water in the pump chamber outside the impeller. This aids in the lifting of the water in the chamber.

In order to avoid possible air lock within the impeller, a bleed passage 20 is drilled through the top wall Id of the impeller from the periphery thereof to a point well within the impeller.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that there has been produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as de lined by the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, the following is claimed as new and useful and upon which Letters Patent is desired:

1. A pump comprising a cylindrical housing having a central intake opening in the bottom and a top outlet opening, a vertical axis impeller turnably mounted in the housing and being concentric therewith, such impeller including a hollow circular body. such body comprising a top and bottom plate, the inner surfaces of such 30 1,404,525

plates curving respectively upwardly and downwardly from the side of the body toward the cen-.

tral vertical axis thereof, ports formed in the side of the body between the plates, the bottom plate having an orifice in register with the intake opening of the housing.

2. A structure as in claim 1 including a cup shaped member interposed between-the body and the inner side wall of the housing. the curved inner face of such member forming a continu- '4 atlon of the curved inner face of the bottom plate.

3. A structure as in claim 1 including a cup shaped member interposed between the body and the inner side wall of the housing, the curved inner face of such member forminga continuation of the curved inner face of the bottom plate, the top edge of said member lying in a horizontal plane above the horizontal plane of the ports.

4. A structure as in claim 1 including a cup shaped member interposed between the body and the inner side wall of the housing, the curved inner face of such member forming a continuation of the curved inner face of the bottom plate, the top edge of said member lying in a horizontal plane above the horizontal plane of the ports, and a plurality of relatively thin vertically disposed vanes projecting radially inward from the ports toward the central vertical axis of the body and extending between the top and bottom plates.

THEODORE H. MUHLY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 705,347 Harris July 22, 1902 907,869 Pfadt Dec. 29, 1908 Hotchkiss Jan. 21, 1922 1,406,297 Stewart Feb, 14, 1922 1,713,427 Earl May 14, 1929 1,717,969 Goodner June 18, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 4,490 Great Britain 1874 70,972 France Mar. 26, 1866 857,742 Great Britain Oct. 1, 1931 

